Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus Influences Its Vector’s Endosymbionts but Not Its Thermotolerance

The barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) of cereals is thought to substantially increase the high-temperature tolerance of its aphid vector, Rhopalosiphum padi, which may enhance its transmission efficiency. This is based on experiments with North American strains of BYDV and R. padi. Here, we independently test these by measuring the temperature tolerance, via Critical Thermal Maximum (CTmax) and knockdown time, of Australian R. padi infected with a local BYDV isolate. We further consider the interaction between BYDV transmission, the primary endosymbiont of R. padi (Buchnera aphidicola), and a transinfected secondary endosymbiont (Rickettsiella viridis) which reduces the thermotolerance of other aphid species. We failed to find an increase in tolerance to high temperatures in BYDV-infected aphids or an impact of Rickettsiella on thermotolerance. However, BYDV interacted with R. padi endosymbionts in unexpected ways, suppressing the density of Buchnera and Rickettsiella. BYDV density was also fourfold higher in Rickettsiella-infected aphids. Our findings indicate that BYDV does not necessarily increase the temperature tolerance of the aphid transmission vector to increase its transmission potential, at least for the genotype combinations tested here. The interactions between BYDV and Rickettsiella suggest new ways in which aphid endosymbionts may influence how BYDV spreads, which needs further testing in a field context.


Introduction
Barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (henceforth, BYDV) encompass the most damaging viruses to cereal crops worldwide [1][2][3].However, BYDV requires biological vectors to infect new plants with aphids being their primary vector [1,4].Consequently, the risk that BYDV poses to crops is intertwined with the ecology and transmission efficiency of their vectors.The success of the most common BYDV serotype worldwide, BYDV-PAV, has been facilitated by the wide distribution and efficient transmission of its primary vector, the bird-cherry oat aphid-Rhopalosiphum padi, Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Aphididae) [1,5].Agricultural management strategies for BYDV-PAV have largely relied on the insecticide control of R. padi [2,6].However, the emergence of insecticide resistance in R. padi and other BYDV vectors means alternative methods of disrupting the relationship between R. padi and BYDV-PAV are needed [7][8][9][10].
Viruses often improve transmission efficiency by altering their vector's phenotype [11][12][13], and growing evidence suggests BYDV-PAV alters R. padi in multiple ways [14,15].Recently, Porras et al. [16] discovered that BYDV-PAV substantially (8 • C) enhanced the Critical Thermal Maximum (CT max ) of viruliferous R. padi by triggering aphids to upregulate heat shock proteins.BYDV-PAV was also found to increase the surface temperature of the infected host plants (wheat, Triticum aestivum L.).In doing so, viruliferous R. padi may gain an advantage over other aphid species feeding on an infected plant.In their study, Porras et al. [16] tested a single North American strain of BYDV-PAV and a single R. padi colony, and it remains unclear if this temperature-based relationship generalizes to other isolates and strains around the world where BYDV-PAV and R. padi are economically damaging.This is important to establish from an economic perspective given the rate of spread of BYDV-PAV can be affected by warm conditions.For instance, warmer conditions may alter the titer of BYDV-PAV in infected plants, and warmer conditions may also shorten the latent period (the time between a vector first acquiring and transmitting the virus) of R. padi carrying BYDV [17,18].
Endosymbionts offer new avenues to manage agricultural pests and vector-transmitted plant viruses [19][20][21][22].Endosymbionts include the heritable bacteria, fungi, and/or viruses hosted within aphids and many other taxonomic groups, which can alter their host's phenotypes and ecology [23][24][25].Amongst aphids, endosymbionts are commonly categorized as being primary or secondary [24].Buchnera aphidicola (Enterobacterales: Erwiniaceae; henceforth referred to by genus) is the sole primary endosymbiont for most aphid species and provides the essential amino acids that aphids require for survival and reproduction [26].Buchnera is thought to play a critical role in the aphid transmission of BYDV, although the exact mechanisms involved are debated [27][28][29][30].Secondary endosymbionts are unnecessary for host survival but can improve their host's fitness in some contexts, such as providing protection against predators or pathogens [31 -33].In some cases, secondary endosymbionts (e.g., Wolbachia) can disrupt their host's ability to transmit viruses [22,34], although others (e.g., Rickettsia) can enhance virus transmission [35,36].BYDV transmission by Sitobion miscanthi appears to be enhanced by Rickettsia [37], but so far, no endosymbiont has been shown to disrupt BYDV transmission.
The secondary endosymbiont Rickettsiella viridis (Legionellales: Coxiellaceae; henceforth referred to by genus) may offer a novel pathway for reducing the thermal benefits that R. padi gains from BYDV.Rickettsiella naturally occurs in pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), where it protects its host against fungal pathogens [38].Recently, Gu et al. [39] artificially introduced Rickettsiella to the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) and discovered that this transinfection could spread in laboratory-based populations via plant-mediated horizontal transmission and vertical transmission.Rickettsiella infection also altered multiple M. persicae phenotypes (e.g., fecundity), including a reduction in their CT max and heat knockdown time [39].If Rickettsiella has a similar effect on R. padi, then this endosymbiont may offer a novel tool for disrupting a temperature-dependent relationship between R. padi and BYDV.
Here, we investigate the relationship between R. padi, BYDV and temperature tolerance using Australian specimens, and we also consider how Rickettsiella infection affects these interactions.Specifically, our study set out to address three questions.(1) Does an Australian strain of BYDV-PAV provide R. padi the same enhanced thermotolerances as reported in the North American strain?(2) Does the introduction of Rickettsiella change the thermotolerance of viruliferous and non-viruliferous R. padi?(3) Do Buchnera, Rickettsiella and BYDV-PAV alter the densities of each other?To do so, we created factorial combinations of aphids infected with BYDV-PAV and Rickettsiella and then measured their thermotolerance in multiple ways.We also sampled individual aphids unexposed to heat treatments and measured BYDV-PAV, Rickettsiella and Buchnera densities to explore the interactions between these microbes.

General Outline of Experimental Design
We completed our experiment below over multiple blocks due to the logistical constraints of simultaneously culturing and assaying the required number of aphids and plants.In each block, we grew a separate cohort of plants that were then used to create a cohort of viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphid lines to investigate our three study questions.Aphid thermotolerance (Section 2.4) and the interactions between BYDV and aphid endosymbiont densities (Section 2.5) were initially measured together over two blocks.Following these first two blocks, our results for aphid thermotolerance across all four groups were reasonably clear, but the influence of Rickettsiella infection on the BYDV density of aphids remained more equivocal.Therefore, we completed a third block that solely tested the interactions between BYDV and aphid endosymbiont densities to clarify the relationship between Rickettsiella infection and the BYDV density of viruliferous aphids.

Maintenance of Virus Isolate
The isolate of BYDV-PAV was kindly provided by Dr. Piotr Trebicki (Grains Innovation Park, Horsham, VIC, Australia) and maintained at low density on T. aestivum c.v. Trojan.PCR amplicons of the coat protein gene (600 bp) of BYDV were sequenced in both forward (BYL, Table 1) and reverse (BYR, Table 1) directions using Sanger Sequencing (Macrogen, Inc., Geumcheongu, Seoul, Republic of Korea).The sequences were analyzed with Geneious 9.18 software.A phylogenetic tree was constructed with MEGA.Throughout our study, the Trojan wheat variety was used as the host plant for R. padi and BYDV.Wheat seedlings were grown in a 22 • C Controlled Temperature (CT) room with a 14:10 (L:D) h photoperiod.

Aphid Line Creation and Maintenance
The Grains Innovation Park (Horsham, VIC, Australia) provided the isofemale line of R. padi used in our study, and this line was maintained in the laboratory asexually on T. aestivum leaves placed in 10 g/L agar in Petri dishes at 12 • C with a 14:10 (L:D) h photoperiod for >40 generations (~3 years) prior to being used in this study.To test our study questions, we used the four factorial combinations of Rickettsiella and BYDV: Rickettsiella positive and viruliferous (R+V+), Rickettsiella negative and viruliferous (R−V+), Rickettsiella positive and non-viruliferous (R+V−), and Rickettsiella negative and non-viruliferous (R−V−).As already noted above, we completed our experiment with these lines over three blocks due to logistical constraints.
The R+ line used in this study was created by introducing Rickettsiella into our R. padi line from A. pisum, which was originally collected from lucerne (Medicago sativa L).Rickettsiella was transferred using microinjection [43], whereby the hemolymph from donor aphids (A.pisum) was transferred to R. padi, and one of the surviving R. padi infected with Rickettsiella was used to establish the R+ isofemale line on wheat.Rickettsiella has now stably infected its host over 30 aphid generations.
Producing the viruliferous (V+) and non-viruliferous (V−) aphids for each block required three steps.Unlike endosymbionts, aphids do not directly pass BYDV to their offspring, and each generation must feed on BYDV-infected (BYDV+) plants to become inoculated with the virus.Accordingly, we created V+ and V− aphid lines via three steps: (1) infecting plants with BYDV; (2) culturing a sufficient number of R+ and R− aphids at the same age, and (3) inoculating the age-matched aphids (or leaving them un-inoculated for V− aphids) by placing them on BYDV+ plants to feed.Full details of each step are provided below.Aphids were maintained at 20 • C in a CT room with a 14:10 (L:D) h photoperiod using 2400 Lumen lights for all three steps.Further details of each of the three steps are provided below.
For each block, we grew ~30 T. aestivum plants to the 3-leaf stage (~3 weeks) in soil (Osmocote potting mix) and housed them within an insect-proof mesh container (93 × 47.5 × 47.5 cm).At the 3 leaf-stage, half the plants cultured in each block were inoculated with BYDV (used to create V+ aphid lines), and the other half was left uninoculated (to create V− aphid lines).Each plant was inoculated by placing the tip of its second true leaf into a 55 mL vial containing ten viruliferous aphids and then sealing this vial with cotton wool.After one week of inoculation, all aphids were removed from plants, and the plants were left for 14 days to allow the virus to spread.We concurrently completed the same steps for each uninoculated plant using non-viruliferous aphids to ensure that the V− plants remained valid controls.After 14 days, we screened plants for BYDV infection, and any plants in the V+ group that had failed to become infected through viruliferous aphids were discarded.
Next, we ensured all aphids tested in our study were the same age and life stage by setting up ten age-matching plates for each of the R− and R+ lines.Each age-matching plate consisted of 30 adult aphids within a 100 mm petri dish containing T. aestivum leaves placed in 10 g/L agar.The age-matching plates produced ~500 R− or R+ 1-2-day-old nymphs.Half of these nymphs were placed on BYDV+ plants for three days to become inoculated (creating the R+V+ and R−V+ lines), and the other half remained in control BYDV-plants (creating R+V− and R−V−) lines.We selected a three-day inoculation period based on previous pilot studies, which showed virus inoculation in >99% of aphids during this time.Therefore, all phenotypic and endosymbiont measurements below were from 4-5-day-old aphids.

Measuring Thermotolerance
We measured thermotolerance in two ways: CT max and heat knockdown time.Individual aphids were placed in glass tubes on a rack within a programmable water bath (Ratek Thermoregulator-Digital Immersion Heater Circulator).The water bath began at 22 • C for 10 min to allow aphids to acclimatize with temperature then increasing by 0.2 • C per min to 35 • C and 0.1 • C per min from 35 • C until all aphids were incapacitated (unable to self-right).To determine CT max , each aphid was visually inspected to find the temperature when they ceased moving or could not right themselves.Heat knockdown time was measured by exposing aphids to a constant temperature (40 • C) and recording the time aphids ceased moving or could not right themselves.A temperature of 40 • C was used based on previous pilot studies, which showed this to be the average CT max of R−V− R. padi.All experiments were run blindly with respect to aphid line.Lines were created to measure CT max and knockdown time over two separate experimental blocks.Given a limited number of aphids could be scored (i.e., visually inspected) simultaneously in each thermotolerance assay, we measured each thermotolerance trait over multiple runs (i.e., heat exposure events) with the aphids from each block.Overall, the two experimental blocks included the four experimental runs of each thermotolerance trait, whereby we measured the CT max of 231 aphids (≥57 from each group) and the knockdown time of 187 aphids (≥45 from each group).

Measuring Endosymbiont and BYDV Density
To explore the interaction between aphid endosymbionts and BYDV, we tested the Buchnera, Rickettsiella, and BYDV density of aphids that were not exposed to a heat treatment.Over the three blocks, we measured the endosymbiont density of 210 aphids (≥35 from each group) and the virus density of 76 aphids (≥37 from each of the V+ groups).
Our first step in screening endosymbiont and BYDV density was to extract the total RNA from individual aphid samples using a Monarch Total RNA Miniprep Kit (NEB, Ipswich, MA, USA).First, 300 ng RNA from each sample was reverse transcribed into cDNA using a high-capacity cDNA reverse transcription kit (Thermo Fisher, Waltham, MA, USA), which was then used as the template for qPCR assays with a Roche LightCycler 480 using a High-Resolution Melting Master kit (Roche Diagnostics Australia Pty. Ltd., North Ryde, NSW, Australia) and IMMOLASE TM DNA polymerase (5 U/µL) (Bioline AgroSciences, Camarillo, CA, USA) according to [41].
Four primer sets (Table 1) were used to amplify markers specific to BYDV-PAV, Buchnera, Rickettsiella and R. padi β-actin.Two-three consistent replicate runs were averaged, and these average values were subsequently used in the data analysis (Section 2.6) below.Delta crossing point (Cp) values were calculated by subtracting the Cp value of the BYDV, Buchnera and Rickettsiella-specific marker from the Cp value of the β-actin marker.The standard deviation (SD) was calculated with delta Cp value of the 2-3 technical replicates.The replicates were considered valid when the SD was <1.Delta Cp values of valid replicates were transformed by 2 n to produce relative endosymbiont or BYDV density measures.

Data Analysis
We ran a series of linear mixed-effects models to test our three study questions using the 'glmmTMB' package in R version 4.0.2[44].This modeling approach allowed us to test whether our traits of interest (e.g., CT max ) differed between treatment groups (i.e., fixed-effect predictors) whilst also using random-effects predictors to account for aphids being tested from the same block or run.Diagnostics checks of the assumptions of linear models (i.e., normality and variance amongst treatment groups) were assessed using the 'DHARMa' package [45,46].The raw values for thermotolerance traits (CT max and knockdown time) were used in our models (detailed below) because these traits showed an approximately normal distribution.However, the BYDV and endosymbiont density values were log-transformed to normalize their distribution when included in the models below.We employed Wald chi-square (χ 2 ) tests to assess the significance of fixed-effects predictors in all models below using the 'car' package [47].
First, we tested whether Rickettsiella and BYDV influenced the CT max or knockdown time of R. padi in two separate linear mixed-effects models.In each model, thermotolerance (CT max or knockdown time) was the response variable with Rickettsiella status, BYDV status, and their interaction as categorical fixed-effect predictors.Each run was treated as a nested random effect within the blocks in both models to account for aphids being tested at the same time and/or originating from the same cohort of aphids and plants.
Second, we tested whether endosymbiont density responded to BYDV status using two separate linear mixed-effects models.The Buchnera density of aphids was modeled as a response variable with Rickettsiella status, BYDV status, and their interaction as fixed-effects predictors and block as a random-effect predictor.Next, the Rickettsiella density of aphids was modeled as a response variable to BYDV status as a single fixed-effect predictor and block as a random-effect predictor.
Third, we explored whether the Rickettsiella status of R. padi affected the BYDV density carried by aphids.To do this, we ran a linear mixed-effects model that included Rickettsiella status as a fixed-effect predictor and block as a random-effect predictor.
Finally, we tested whether the BYDV density of individual aphids significantly covaried with Buchnera and/or Rickettsiella density.To do this, BYDV density was used as the response variable in a linear mixed-effects model with Buchnera density, Rickettsiella density, and their interaction as fixed-effect predictors and block as a random-effect predictor.

Comparison of Genomic Backgrounds
We compared the genomic background of our focal R. padi strain (OAT_02) against strains sampled in the Australian states of Victoria (n = 7), New South Wales (n = 2), and South Australia (n = 2) as well as the North American strain from Porras et al. [16].We estimated pairwise differentiation across all sample pairs with ∆ D statistics [48], which estimates the proportional differentiation among samples.Full details on the genomic comparison methods are provided in the Supplementary Materials.

Results
Thermotolerance traits and Rickettsiella density varied across experimental blocks and/or runs, but Buchnera and BYDV densities were consistent across blocks.All block and run effects were accounted for by including them as random predictors in the models below.
strains sampled in the Australian states of Victoria (n = 7), New South Wales (n = 2), and South Australia (n = 2) as well as the North American strain from Porras et al. [16].We estimated pairwise differentiation across all sample pairs with ΔD statistics [48], which estimates the proportional differentiation among samples.Full details on the genomic comparison methods are provided in the Supplementary Materials.

Results
Thermotolerance traits and Ricke siella density varied across experimental blocks and/or runs, but Buchnera and BYDV densities were consistent across blocks.All block and run effects were accounted for by including them as random predictors in the models below.

Comparison of Genomic Backgrounds
For BYDV-PAV, the phylogenetic tree suggested our BYDV-PAV isolate is quite distant from all the other isolates published in GenBank, including Australian and New Zealand isolates (Figure S2).
After trimming, our samples of Australian R. padi had an average of 41,590,394 reads with a range of 39,325,647 and 43,839,140 reads.The North American R. padi had 29,617,835 reads after trimming.After all SNP filtering steps, we were left with 6694 SNPs.Note that because we filtered for no missing data, all SNPs come from protein-coding regions of the genome (due to the use of the North American strain transcriptome).Our results show that all Australian R. padi sampled in this study had a very similar genomic background.Pairwise ∆ D was <0.002 for all Australian pairs.The North American strain was quite different to all Australian clones with pairwise ∆ D ~0.19 in all comparisons (Figure S3).This suggests that our study used a different genomic background for R. padi.

Comparison of Genomic Backgrounds
For BYDV-PAV, the phylogenetic tree suggested our BYDV-PAV isolate is quite distant from all the other isolates published in GenBank, including Australian and New Zealand isolates (Figure S2).
After trimming, our samples of Australian R. padi had an average of 41,590,394 reads with a range of 39,325,647 and 43,839,140 reads.The North American R. padi had 29,617,835 reads after trimming.After all SNP filtering steps, we were left with 6694 SNPs.Note that because we filtered for no missing data, all SNPs come from protein-coding regions of the genome (due to the use of the North American strain transcriptome).Our results show that all Australian R. padi sampled in this study had a very similar genomic background.Pairwise ΔD was <0.002 for all Australian pairs.The North American strain was quite different to all Australian clones with pairwise ΔD~0.19 in all comparisons (Figure S3).This suggests that our study used a different genomic background for R. padi.

Discussion
An understanding of BYDV's relationship with their aphid vectors and disruptive influences may provide new avenues to manage this virus.Recently, Porras et al. [16] showed that viruliferous R. padi gained enhanced thermotolerance (CTmax up by 8 °C) that may provide a competitive advantage over other aphids under warm conditions.Here, we explored the relationship between R. padi, BYDV and temperature tolerance using Australian aphid and BYDV material and examined whether this temperature-based

Discussion
An understanding of BYDV's relationship with their aphid vectors and disruptive influences may provide new avenues to manage this virus.Recently, Porras et al. [16] showed that viruliferous R. padi gained enhanced thermotolerance (CT max up by 8 • C) that may provide a competitive advantage over other aphids under warm conditions.Here, we explored the relationship between R. padi, BYDV and temperature tolerance using Australian aphid and BYDV material and examined whether this temperaturebased relationship could be disrupted by the endosymbiont Rickettsiella.We found that neither BYDV-PAV nor Rickettsiella significantly altered R. padi thermotolerance (CT max and knockdown time).As such, our findings suggest the Australian strains of BYDV-PAV and R. padi tested here interact differently to the North American strains of Porras et al. [16].However, somewhat unexpectedly, Rickettsiella infections appeared to increase the BYDV density carried by R. padi, which may influence BYDV transmission.
Genetic differences between the North American and Australian strains of BYDV-PAV, R. padi, and T. aestivum or their interactions may explain why our results differed from those of Porras et al. [16].Our analyses of genomic backgrounds suggest that considerable genetic differentiation exists between the R. padi and BYDV-PAV used in the two studies (Figures S2 and S3).Some of this genetic differentiation may reflect adaptation in BYDV and/or R. padi to different climates.Indeed, the non-viruliferous R. padi here showed a much higher CT max (5 • C) than those in Porras et al. [16].However, testing conditions could also account for the different CT max values between the two studies [49].Alternatively, genetic interactions (G × G) often shape the performance of vectors, hosts and pathogens [50,51], and these are possible between all three of the biological levels examined here (BYDV, R. padi, or T. aestivum).G × G interactions are well established in other insectpathogen systems [52,53], but they have been rarely tested between BYDV and R. padi (but see [54]).We also note that our focal R. padi strain had a similar genomic background to the 13 other Australian strains included in our genomic comparisons.It therefore seems unlikely that we would have observed a different result by using any of the other R. padi strains available to us.Subsequent work to identify different genomic backgrounds of Australian R. padi is underway, which will facilitate the future testing of G × G interactions.
Plasticity may also contribute to the differences between our findings and those of Porras et al. [16].Rhopalosiphum padi has repeatedly been shown to increase their thermotolerance via acclimation [55,56].Still, the increase in thermotolerance due to BYDV noted by Porras et al. [16] was extremely large and unlikely to be explained by acclimation alone.Therefore, we were surprised that there was no evidence of any effect in our data despite similarities in the assays used.In both studies, aphids were maintained at the same temperature (20 • C) for multiple generations preceding exposure; CT max assays ramped temperature at a similar rate (0.2-0.1 • C per min) and tested aphids at a similar developmental stage (~4 days old).Nonetheless, the two studies differed in some ways (e.g., exposure via hotplate versus water bath), and other lab-based conditions (e.g., soil, watering volume, and the quality of the growth chambers) are likely to have differed, which could have influenced the results.Even small methodological differences in CT max assays can obscure biological patterns in thermotolerance [57,58], and conjecture remains on the best methods to measure CT max [59].
There are contrasting hypotheses as to why BYDV suppressed both endosymbionts of R. padi.First, endosymbiont suppression (particularly primary endosymbionts) is often associated with stressful conditions (e.g., temperature and chemicals) [41,60,61], and the presence of BYDV may be stressful for R. padi and/or its endosymbionts.The suppression of Buchnera density may further decrease the capacity of R. padi to synthesize essential vitamins, which can cause severe fitness costs [26,62].Second, lower endosymbiont densities in R. padi could be the result of BYDV improving the nutritional content of T. aestivum [36,63].For example, the potato leafroll virus causes host plants to produce more essential amino acids (e.g., argE) that their insect vectors otherwise must obtain from their nutritional endosymbionts [63].Hence, lower endosymbiont densities may reflect insect vectors becoming less reliant on endosymbionts for nutrition (assuming that endosymbiont density is under host control) [64].Wheat plants infected with BYDV have a higher essential amino acid content [15], meeting one of the requirements of this hypothesis.The two hypotheses could be tested further using membrane feeders to infect sucking insects with a virus without changing their diet [65][66][67].
Whether the increased virus density carried by R. padi hosting Rickettsiella will translate to higher rates of BYDV transmission warrants further exploration.The relationship between virus density and transmission rate for persistent viruses like BYDV (as opposed to viruses that are only intermittently carried inside vectors) is unclear [68].For example, Rotenberg et al. [69] found Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) carrying higher titers of a persistent virus (Tomato spotted wilt virus) transmitted this virus with a higher frequency.Conversely, other studies have found that virus density is less important compared with other factors like virus isolate for a vector's transmission of persistent plant viruses [68,70].The effect that Rickettsiella has on BYDV transmission could have important implications for deploying this endosymbiont for pest-control purposes (cf.[39]) and highlights the important interactions between viruses and endosymbionts more generally.
Further work could consider testing multiple isolates of BYDV and multiple R. padi clones.BYDV-PAV isolates have diverged in their genetics and pathogenicity as the virus has spread across the world [71], which makes generalizing any results from a single isolate a challenge.In addition, we only tested a single clonal type, but multiple R. padi clones are present in populations [72,73] and can differ substantially in terms of life history characteristics [74].Other measures of thermotolerance beyond CT max and knockdown time could be considered given that the aphid life stage when heat exposure occurs can impact thermotolerance [75][76][77].Sublethal life history traits are also influenced by stagespecific exposures to heat stress [78,79], which could shape the interactions between BYDV and R. padi under field conditions.

Conclusions
Our study suggests, at least for the Australian genotype combinations tested here, that BYDV does not necessarily enhance the temperature tolerance of R. padi.As such, our findings point toward key regional variations in the relationship between these two widespread pests.The interactions between BYDV and Rickettsiella indicate new ways aphid endosymbionts may influence how BYDV spreads.Still, further testing, involving multiple genotypes and in a field context, is needed to determine whether future BYDV management strategies can exploit this endosymbiont interaction.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Knockdown time (a) and CT max (b) of viruliferous (V+) and non-viruliferous (V−) Rhopalosiphum padi carrying (R+) or lacking (R−) Rickettsiella viridis.Squares show mean values and error bars represent 95% Confidence Intervals.Violin plots visualize the distribution of the data and the density of values from individual aphids.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The relative Buchnera aphidicola (a) and Ricke siella viridis (b) density of viruliferous (V+) and non-viruliferous (V−) Rhopalosiphum padi.Buchnera densities are pooled across R+ and R− aphids as Ricke siella status did not impact Buchnera density.Squares show mean values, and error bars represent 95% Confidence Intervals.Violin plots visualize the distribution of the data and the density of values of individual aphids.Note: the relative densities are plo ed on a log scale.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The relative Buchnera aphidicola (a) and Rickettsiella viridis (b) density of viruliferous (V+) and non-viruliferous (V−) Rhopalosiphum padi.Buchnera densities are pooled across R+ and R− aphids as Rickettsiella status did not impact Buchnera density.Squares show mean values, and error bars represent 95% Confidence Intervals.Violin plots visualize the distribution of the data and the density of values of individual aphids.Note: the relative densities are plotted on a log scale.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The relative BYDV density of Rhopalosiphum padi carrying (R+) or lacking (R−) Ricke siella viridis.Squares show mean values and error bars represent 95% Confidence Intervals.Violin plots visualize the distribution of the data and the density of values of individual aphids.Note: the relative density is plo ed on a log scale.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The relative BYDV density of Rhopalosiphum padi carrying (R+) or lacking (R−) Rickettsiella viridis.Squares show mean values and error bars represent 95% Confidence Intervals.Violin plots visualize the distribution of the data and the density of values of individual aphids.Note: the relative density is plotted on a log scale.

Table 1 .
Primers used for the qPCR-based detection of BYDV and endosymbionts in Rhopalosiphum padi.